Twisp of Fate

Earlier this week, we went down to Wenatchee so Rick could finish installing a cabinet job at the home of some friends.  This included a  buffet and glassware cabinets in the dining room, extending (thematically) into new bookcases and a fireplace surround and hearth to replace the very dated, 1970’s era fireplace tilework.  The wood is cherry (with a birdseye maple panel over the fireplace), buffet top and hearth are granite to go with their new kitchen.

Dining and living room cabinets and fireplace surround

We stayed over Monday night and went hiking with our friends on Tuesday.  Our destination, Saddle Rock, is a well-known feature in the hills west of Wenatchee.  It is a fairly steep climb, and we also completed a loop trail which involved a lot of steep downhill hiking, so all of our muscles got a workout.  It was a lovely spring day, in the mid-70’s, and we saw buttercups, bluebells, and even arrowleaf balsamroot starting to bloom at the lower elevations.

Here is the fine view out to the east over Wenatchee and the Columbia River:

From Saddle Rock over Wenatchee

Yesterday morning we were just trying to figure out how to spend the day when I got a phone call from a friend.  She had a tip on a great junkyard down near Brewster that they had discovered while off looking for sandhill cranes.  This sounded like fun to us, so off we went around noon.  Brewster is down near the confluence of the Okanogan and Columbia Rivers and about 40 miles or so from our place.

I won’t bore you too much with the junkyard (“Apple Valley Bargain Barn”) but suffice it to say I got a number of stainless steel pans, actually restaurant warming trays used in steam tables.  They are a little banged up, but sound, and will make great dye pots.  Compared to the best price I can get in Seattle at the discount restaurant supply places, they were real bargains!  Plus, the proprietor of the place was a hoot.

Then off we went in search of the sandhill cranes.  Following my friend’s advice, we went up the Cameron Lake Rd to the east of Monse, just up the Okanogan River a ways above its confluence with the Columbia.  This takes you up onto the Timentwa Flats area of the Colville Indian Reservation (pronounced TIM-en-twah) .  This high tableland is peppered with lava extrusions which look like strange erratic rocks scattered about the landscape.  There are also a lot of small lakes and potholes.  The cranes that pass through here in March and April are on their way to NW Canada and Alaska, according to the link I gave you above.  Brewster has a Sandhill Crane Festival every spring.

Well, we saw cranes all right.  Maybe 400 or 500 of them, all told.  They make an amazing sound that I can’t possibly describe.  They were also fairly shy and would either slowly move off when we stopped the car and got out with our binoculars and camera – or actually would take off with a great deal of commotion, then eventually circle around and settle again.

Rick managed to get a couple of good shots with the big telephoto lens:

Sandhill cranes - the closest shot we could get!

Cranes at a pothole on the Timentwa Flats

Sandhill cranes in flight

We finished the drive by continuing up this interesting backroad to the town of Okanogan, then home via Loup Loup pass on Highway 20.  A lovely and interesting day!

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Last night we went to the opening of the new show at the Confluence Gallery & Art Center in Twisp.  It is titled “Then and Now: A Historical View of the Methow Valley” and was conceived and curated by Roxie Miller.  Roxie and her husband Carl live in Winthrop, and are very involved with The Shafer Historical Museum, also in Winthrop.  Roxie’s concept was to choose historical photographs and objects from the museum collection, and pair these with contemporary works by regional artists that are inspired by the photograph or object.  She also wrote a number of narratives about Methow Valley history that are displayed along with some of the photographs.

Our friend Michael Neiman, a woodworker who lives in Spokane, brought over one of his beautiful rocking chairs for the show:

Roxie asked Rick if he would make a blanket chest to pair with a little chest they have in the museum that was made out of an old apple box.  He used walnut from a homestead tree in southwest Washington that had a large treehouse built in it; he had to be careful to find all the old nails and screws in the rough lumber before he started milling it down to finished dimensions – there was quite a little handful!  The panels are quartersawn European beech, and there is a layer of aromatic cedar planking inside on the bottom.

Washington walnut & quarter-sawn beech blanket chest

They brought in a loom that was donated to the museum by Kay Reiber, who set up a warp and demonstrated weaving during the opening.  She thinks the loom was built locally and is about 35 years old.  I brought in three of the shawls I just finished, which they will display with the loom during the show (and hopefully sell…).  The photograph on the wall behind the loom is of sheep grazing in the Pasayten Wilderness – evidently there used to be many large herds of sheep that were grazed in the high country around the valley during the summers.

Loved this old seeder that was being displayed as a possible garden bench/storage box:

Carl and Roxie Miller dressed for the occasion – there are a lot of Millers here in the valley, and most of them are related to Carl!

This is really a terrific show, and especially interesting if you take the time to read the narratives and study the old photographs (the prints in the gallery are for sale, by the way).  It runs through April 11, 2009.

Afterwards, we went across the street to Tappi for dinner and to listen to one of our favorite local musicians, Chris “Breathe” Frue – playing solo jazz guitar on this occasion.  The mural behind him is very personal to the owner of Tappi, whose family came from some small islands off the northeast coast of Sicily.

"Breathe" Frue playing at Tappi in Twisp

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